It is not easy to simulate realistic mechanical behaviors of elastically deformable objects with most existing mass-spring systems for their lack of simple and clear methods to determine spring constants considering material properties (e.g. Young's modulus, Poisson’s ratio). To overcome this obstacle, we suggest an alternative method to determine spring constants for mechanical simulation of deformable objects under compression. Using the expression derived from proposed method, it is possible to determine one and the same spring constant for a mass-spring model depending on Young's modulus, geometric dimensions and mesh resolutions of the 3-D model. Determination of one and the same spring constant for a mass-spring model in this way leads to simple implementation of the mass-spring system. To validate proposed methodology, static deformations (e.g. compressions and indentations) simulated with mass-spring models and FEM reference models are compared.
Contact-free experimental determination of the static flexural spring constant of cantilever sensors using a microfluidic force tool
